Daily Independent (Lagos)
2 December 2008
President Umaru Yar'Adua has halted plans by Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State to inaugurate council executives whose election sparked off violence in Jos and has produced apprehension up and down the country.
Security is getting tight in Kano and Katsina States as a firewall against the spread of the brigandage in which hundreds have died and thousands more are displaced.
The upgrade has been witnessed in Kano city since violence broke out at the weekend over a disputed election which later turned into a sectarian bloodbath in Jos.
But Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, on Monday allayed fears of reprisals in cities in the South East, saying the Igbo are law abiding Nigerians.
It, however, demanded full compensation to those whose properties were destroyed in the carnage, and the prosecution of the perpetrators.
A source in the Presidency disclosed that Yar'Adua is angry that Jang would even think of inaugurating the council Chairmen and Councillors when tension is still high and efforts are being made to forestall further breakdown of law and order in Jos and across the country.
He considers Jang's plan as insensitive when victims are still counting their losses, and directed that security agencies be on red alert to stave off reprisals.
He has also enlisted the support of prominent religious and traditional rulers as well as political leaders nationwide.
"Yar'Adua phoned Jang on Sunday evening to express his displeasure at such a move which could inflame further passion and told him to shelve the inauguration.
"He has directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ahmed Yayale, under whose purview the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is, to ensure that efforts are made to provide relief materials for the displaced people," the source confirmed.
Ohanaeze President General, Dozie Ikedife, recounted in Awka that the violence "later assumed a new dimension of racial and tribal clashes. But in Igbo land we are a law-abiding people and cannot be dragged into taking laws into our hands."
"The government must do something to control this. An inventory of all that were destroyed should be made and the state government should pay compensation for the lives and properties lost during the carnage.
"We also insist that all those who had a hand in this ugly incident must face the penalty and we even heard that some powerful forces were behind the crisis, hence they should be made to pay the price, irrespective of their positions in Nigeria."
Ikedife added in an exclusive interview that "the subjugation of Ndigbo has taken different shapes in recent times; from political upheavals to religion and racial attacks.
"Why is it that whenever such things happen, the Igbo are usually the object of attacks; their lives, investments and properties destroyed?"
All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) National Publicity Secretary, Emma Eneukwu, blamed the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PSIEC) for the riots.
A statement he issued on Monday recalled that the party had on several occasions urged the electoral bodies to exhaust all the means at their disposal to conduct credible and transparent elections acceptable to all concerned.
To forestall a spillover to Kano, itself reputed for such violence, anti-riot policemen are in strategic locations to complement conventional police.
Flash points elsewhere in the state - Kruna Asabe, Dakata, Zango, Brigade, Badawa, and Rijiya lemu - are heavily fortified too.
Before now, a police armored personal carrier (APC) had been stationed at the Igbo Road/France Road junction, and another at France Road/Katsina Road junction overlooking the office of Triumph newspapers.
Security is also tight in Sabon Gari which has a population of four million non-indigenes.
Plain clothes security men are on the ground for intelligence gathering while entry and exit points are heavily guarded to check the infiltration of trouble makers into Kano, a city famous for commerce.
Police carry out stop and search especially during the late hours.
Neither Kano Police Commissioner, Mohammed Yesufu, nor Public Relations Officer, Baba Mohammed, could be reached for comment.
But in neighbouring Katsina State, Police Commissioner, Danazumi Doma, gave an assurance in a telephone interview that the situation is safe.
He said measures are in place to avoid a breach of the peace by those who may want to capitalise on the Jos crisis to unleash terror.
"We have been proactive before now, especially because of the forthcoming Sallah, Christmas, and New Year festivities, to ensure they are conducted under a hitch-free atmosphere," he pledged.
The measures also include foot and vehicle patrols in Katsina, positioning policemen at strategic locations in other major cities and towns, as well as intensification of stop and search.
Doma said he has ordered intelligence gathering on the movement of people in and out of the state in addition to joint patrol between police and other security agencies.
The stop and search begins at midnight and ends at 6 a.m. Suspected criminal joints are raided daily.
Unlawful gathering remains banned, exit and entry points are monitored for smuggled arms, and churches and mosques are guarded, particularly on Sundays and Fridays.
- Tom Chiahemen, Chesa Chesa (Abuja), Augustine Madu-West (Kano), Okey Maduforo (Awka) and Olisemeka Obeche (Lagos)
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